


And a few years prior to that...

by Miki_and_company



Series: Will they?(they will) (but it'll take forever) [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Buildup, First Meeting, M/M, Short, casual homphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:11:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miki_and_company/pseuds/Miki_and_company
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There USUALLY isn't anyone else here on stray afternoon like this but, hey, looks like this kid was set by fate to hate a playdate with Dave Strider.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And a few years prior to that...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leuzkra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leuzkra/gifts).



> This actually has no romance in it but it's part of a series which does, so. eh.

Dave was sipping his third box of juice of the afternoon. Through the window, he observed carefully the action unraveling on the shitty parking lot, in front of him.  
Who were these douchebags?  
They looked exactly alike. The younger one shouted at the other one with enthusiasm. The older one replied in a calm, but long-winded manner. They went at it like that for a while. Holy shit these two could talk for a long time. Dave looked occasionally at the clock on the wall. Ten. Fifteen. Thirty minutes. He wasn’t sure if he had ever sustained a conversation that long with someone, much less an argument.  
It ended somewhat flatly, with the younger boy, resigned, being left on the steps of the youth community center with a kiss on the forehead. He crossed his arms, stayed put. With a hand gesture of his brother who was retrieving into his car, he eye rolled his way inside.  
Dave heard his steps drag across the hallways. It felt weird. Usually, he was the only one still coming here, except on homework night. Terezi sometimes made an appearance, but he was used to her kind of just being there. She wasn’t there that afternoon.  
The boy opened the door hesitantly. Dave winced. The boy opened the door and stared at him.  
“Hey,” Dave said.  
The boy closed the door.   
Dammit.  
“hey wait dude.”  
Dave heard the boy sigh through the door.   
“what?”  
He opened slightly, peering through.  
“Well, I don’t know, are you going somewhere?”  
“No, I’m stuck here.”  
“Well shit enter then.”  
“I don’t want to bother you. Or talk with you.”  
“You don’t have to. I’m bored, to be perfectly honest.”  
Dave threw the juice box he realized was long emptied in one corner of the room. That was kind of stupid, he would have to pick it up later. Hey, he wanted to look cool.  
“Littering, dude???? Like, that’s very stupid what you just did? Are you retarded?”  
“nah man I’m the gods of the smarts, I did it for the kicks. Ironically, y’know?”  
“That doesn’t make sense.”  
“That’s because you can’t come anywhere near me in terms of understanding shit like that, man. It’s the point. To not be understood, to not make sense for the purpose of pretending to do so.”  
“Was that supposed to be deep? God, you’re even more retarded than I thought. I fucking hate my brother.”  
He eye rolled. Dave thought that was the most perfect eye roll he ever saw. On point with a sigh and a low grunt.  
“What’s your name dude?”  
He hesitated.  
“Karkat.”  
“I’m Dave. Just fucking enter dude.”  
He entered, picked up the juice box and threw it in the trash can. He then slumped on the couch, far enough from Dave, who was perched beside the window anyway.  
“Fuck you and fuck this place.”  
“Nah this place is chill man it has like three adults who aren’t really here to scold us anyway, and there’s never really anyone here. And there is one computer to do shit on the internet.”  
Dave pointed at an old, white monitor.  
“ It doesn't work very well, but it's fun to pretend.I love this place.”  
“Why are you even here anyway?” Karkat asked.  
“I don’t know, get some time on my own? Like that is literally what this place is for.”  
“I thought this place was for, and I quote, ‘getting in touch with the local community and youth, understand the roots of teenage rebellion and support the troubles of one going through this ordeal’.”  
“lol dude was that what your brother was lecturing you about?”  
“Lecturing is a fucking understatement.”  
Dave laughed.   
“Well, I usually don’t do much shit here, but if you want we can do something. I don’t know. If you want to.”  
“What is there even to do?”  
“There’s a few games.”  
Dave reached under a desk, where a couple of worn out boxes were accumulating dust. He took out a chess game.  
“chess?” he said.  
Karkat shrugged. Dave didn’t know why, but he liked that guy. He was cute. But. Like. Not in a gay way. He liked the way he was angry but completely genuine about it.   
Dave didn’t have much friends. Kind of a loner. But not a loser. He was mysterious, cool, aloof guy. Absolutely. No two-ways about that. Clearly. Uh-uh. Yes. Affirmative. No self-doubt. None.  
Point is, he didn’t mind people not liking him, and actually appreciated someone able to be upfront about their feelings.  
He wondered whether Karkat had a lot of friends. It was unlikely, if he was here.  
He dumped the box on the lounge table, opened it.  
Yeah Dave had no idea how to play chess.  
“yeah, uh, it has been a while since I last played so…”  
“You don’t know how to play?”  
“…yeah.”  
“Seriously what kind of fucking idiot baby are you?”  
“I don’t know, what kind of whiny teenager are you?”  
Karkat sighed. Really, this dude could probably power a wind turbine with the power of his sighs.  
“Well, since obviously I don’t have choice, I guess I’ll have to teach you.”  
Dave had a small smirk.  
Karkat picked up pieces and started to place them on the game board.  
“So that’s the tower…”  
“I'm going to call it Phallic McSpikey.”  
Karkat gave him a death glance.  
“No. It moves in straight lines.”  
“Hell yeah just like me.”  
“Fuck you and fuck this shit.”  
He threw back the piece into the box. And stood up, ready to leave. Dave leaned back and crossed his arms.  
“Whatever dude, go, I don’t care, I’m used to spending afternoons alone, you just leave and get a fucking brain aneurysm from boredom. If you can’t take my swag that’s not my problem.”  
He didn’t really mean it. He couldn’t help himself from teasing Karkat, but he realized he was desperate for company and the young teen made a perfect partner.  
Apparently Karkat thought the same thing because he sat back down.  
“You’re a pain in the ass, Dave.”  
“I know. Can’t help myself.”  
Karkat started to list the functions of the pieces, and this time, instead of commenting on it, he replied with questions about Karkat. Age? Fourteen. School? The same as his, apparently, he just moved into the neighborhood. Interests? Karkat blushed at that question but refused to answer. He tried to tell Dave to shut up a couple of time, but while doing so he also answered the questions and kept the conversation going. The conversation went on.  
It took nearly forty-five minutes to explain the rules, and by then, Dave had almost forgotten all of them. They placed the pieces nonetheless and started a game. It took three turns for Dave to make an illegal move.  
"Really, Dave? This was one of the first moves I taught you! The knight moves in L shape, two squares first then one square."  
"This piece is the knight? I thought it was the one with the little slice in the head of his dick."  
"That's the fool, you are a fool, and please stop fucking referring to the pieces as dicks. It makes you sound like a pervert."  
"Who told you I wasn't?"  
" Oh, sorry, my mistake, you clearly are the king of the perverts."  
"That's the one with the cross on his dick."  
Karkat facepalmed.  
" Oh. Come on, I'm teasing you. I forgot the move the piece made is all."  
"Are you telling me I lost god-knows how much time trying to teach you chess for nothing?"  
"Forty-five minutes. And we were having another discussion."  
"It was your fucking fault."  
"Come on give this beginner a chance. Let's be honest I don't really care about this game."  
"You're the one who brought it up."  
"Do you want to play?"  
"No. You're fucking exhausting."  
"Then let's not play."  
" Fucking fine."  
He raggedly put back all the pieces in the worn out box and almost threw it back under the desk. He then leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes, annoyed. Dave leaned back against the chair he had been using and looked at Karkat.  
"Are you gay?"  
"What do you fucking care assface?"  
"I don't know, you look gay."  
" How is it even possible to 'look gay'?"  
" You don't look like me."  
"I'm going to kick you in the face."  
"Oh come on dude there's nothing wrong with that."  
"Kicking you in the face? I sure hope not. It should probably be illegal NOT to be flogging violently any given part of your body at all times, if you ask me."  
" But are you?"  
"…"  
"You are?"  
"Of course not, you butt pain!"  
"Alright then."  
"Why did you even ask me?"  
"Nothing."  
"Can we change the subject?"  
"Yeah sure."  
They talked about Dave's interests(apart from phallic symbols). And then they talked about other stuff. School. Friends. It didn't really matter. The subjects changed, a time passed faster than they would have figured. Soon enough it was four and a half, and Kankri( Karkat's brother) was knocking on the door to bring back Karkat home.   
Before he left, Karkat asked,  
"Dave...uh, I mean, if it doesn't bother you, can I have your pesterchum handle?"  
"Yeah sure man."  
Dave took a small piece of paper and wrote "TurntechGodhead" on it.  
Karkat tore that piece to write "CarcinoGeneticist" on the blank part of it. He handed it to Dave with a demi-smile, the first Dave saw.  
"Here's mine."  
Dave took it and Karkat fled. There was a warm feeling inside of it he wasn't familiar with. Friendship. Yes. Definitively that human emotion called friendship.


End file.
